A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction. Mystery films include, but are not limited to, films in the genre of detective fiction.
Arthur Benjamin Reeve was an American mystery writer. He is known best for creating the series character Professor Craig Kennedy, sometimes called "The American Sherlock Holmes", and Kennedy's Dr. Watson-like sidekick Walter Jameson, a newspaper reporter, for 18 detective novels. Reeve is famous mostly for the 82 Craig Kennedy stories, published in Cosmopolitan magazine between 1910 and 1918. These were collected in book form; with the third collection, the short stories were published grouped together as episodic novels. The 12-volume publication Craig Kennedy Stories was released during 1918; it reissued Reeve's books-to-date as a matched set.
William Surrey Hart was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered as a foremost Western star of the silent era who "imbued all of his characters with honor and integrity." During the late 1910s and early 1920s, he was one of the most consistently popular movie stars, frequently ranking high among male actors in popularity contests held by movie fan magazines.
Winifred Westover, birth name Winifred Heide, was an actress of the 1910s and 1920s. Her career included films made in Hollywood, Sweden and New York.
Hubert Willis was a British actor best known for his recurring role as Doctor Watson in a series of silent Sherlock Holmes films co-starring with Eille Norwood.
Believe Me, Xantippe is a lost 1918 American silent romantic comedy film produced by Jesse Lasky for release through Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by actor/director Donald Crisp and stars Wallace Reid and Ann Little. The film is based on a 1913 William A. Brady-produced play Believe Me Xantippe by John Frederick Ballard, which on the Broadway stage had starred John Barrymore.
Alias Mary Flynn is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Ralph Ince and starring Evelyn Brent. The film is considered to be lost.
Fighting Odds is a 1917 American silent drama film produced and distributed by Goldwyn Pictures and starring stage beauty Maxine Elliott. The film is based on the play Under Sentence by Irvin S. Cobb and Roi Cooper Megrue. The picture was amongst Goldwyn's first productions as an independent producer. It was directed by veteran Allan Dwan and is a surviving film at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Gosfilmofond in Russia.
First Love is a 1921 American silent romantic comedy film produced by the Realart Pictures Corporation and distributed through the related Paramount Pictures. It stars Constance Binney and was directed by Maurice Campbell. Warner Baxter has one of his earliest screen portrayals here. Only the first reel of this film is known to survive at the Museum of Modern Art.
Wolves of the Rail is a 1918 American silent Western film produced, directed by, and starring William S. Hart. Thomas H. Ince assisted Hart in supervising the production.
Hemlock Hoax, the Detective is an American short comedy film produced and distributed in 1910 by the Lubin Manufacturing Company. The silent film features a detective named Hemlock Hoax who tries to solve a murder, which unbeknownst to him is a practical joke being played on him by two young boys. It was one of many shorts designed to derive its humor from a sleuth whose name was similar to Sherlock Holmes.
The Courageous Coward is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by William Worthington and featuring Sessue Hayakawa and Tsuru Aoki in lead roles.
The Family Skeleton is a surviving 1918 American silent drama film directed by Victor Schertzinger and Jerome Storm and written by Thomas H. Ince and Bert Lennon. The film stars Charles Ray, Sylvia Breamer, Andrew Arbuckle, William Elmer, Otto Hoffman, and Jack Dyer. The film was released on March 31, 1918, by Paramount Pictures.
The Sheriff's Son is a 1919 American silent Western film directed by Victor Schertzinger and written by J.G. Hawks and William MacLeod Raine. The film stars Charles Ray, Seena Owen, J. P. Lockney, Charles K. French, Otto Hoffman, and Lamar Johnstone. The film was released on March 30, 1919, by Paramount Pictures. It is not known whether the film currently survives, and it may be a lost film.
John Petticoats is a 1919 American silent action film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by C. Gardner Sullivan. The film stars William S. Hart, Walt Whitman, George Webb, Winifred Westover, Ethel Shannon, and Andrew Arbuckle. The film was released on November 2, 1919, by Paramount Pictures.
Red Hot Dollars is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by Jerome Storm and written by Julien Josephson. The film stars Charles Ray, Gladys George, Charles Hill Mailes, William Conklin, and Mollie McConnell. The film was released on December 28, 1919, by Paramount Pictures. A copy of the film is in the Gosfilmofond archive in Moscow.
A Daughter of Two Worlds is a surviving 1920 silent film adventure drama directed by James Young and starring Norma Talmadge, Jack Crosby, and Virginia Lee.
The Woman Gives is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Norma Talmadge, John Halliday, and Edmund Lowe.
Are All Men Alike? is a lost 1920 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Phil Rosen. It stars May Allison, Wallace MacDonald, and John Elliott, and was released on November 8, 1920.
The People vs. Nancy Preston is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Tom Forman and starring Marguerite De La Motte, John Bowers, and Frankie Darro.
